Skywatcher 2" Eyepiece Holder

[PeteK]

I've not long bought a secondhand 250px and more recently a Meade 5000 24mm 2" eyepiece. I took out the 1.25" eyepiece holder and expected to be able to fit the 2" eyepiece directly into the focuser...not so easy!

I'm guessing that my 250px is possibly missing something to hold the 2" eyepiece??? A quick look on the skywatcher site and found one of these.

http://www.skywatcher.com/swtinc/product.php?id=244&class1=5&class2=540

Is that the vital bit that I'm missing? If so, any ideas where I can get one without buying a new focuser?

Thanks

Pete

[Lorne]

Yeah, thats the vital bit you need. You get them occasionally on AB & S and on the classifieds on here. When I changed my focuser I had one laying around but someone on here posted a wanted ad so I sent it off to them. Try a wanted ad of your own, there must be more of them out there sitting gathering dust!

[alan potts]

He can't post a wanted add sadly. Why don't you get hold of who you got it from and ask if he still has it, worth a try.

Alan.

[gooseholla]

He could on Astro/Buy sell if he signed up!

[Tinker1947]

I would have though the 250px came with a standard 2" holder and a 1.25 would be the extra, can you post a picture with and without the holder that came with the scope......

[John]

I would have though the 250px came with a standard 2" holder and a 1.25 would be the extra, can you post a picture with and without the holder that came with the scope......

You would have thought so but it's not the case. For some reason these Skywatcher scopes require adaptors to be used for both 1.25" and 2" eyepiece use. The drawtube is slightly more than 2" in diameter so you can't push fit a 2" eyepiece straight into it, as you can with other scopes.

The need to use these 2 adapters can cause other confusion too as they can't be used together - it's either one of the other. Trying to use the two together causes eyepieces not to come to focus and is a common cause of confusion with new owners of these scopes.

[rory]

i had the same issue, took me a while but after a advert on astro buy and sell, one eventually came up. you have to get the right dovetail size. i think its 57mm at its widest.

[jabberwocky]

Are you sure the draw tube is wider than 2 "? My twist lock adapter fits just as snuggly in draw tube as it does in the adapter, I assumed the need for 2 separate adapters was to maintain the same overall length to achieve focus.

[jimmyjamjoejoe]

Are you sure the draw tube is wider than 2 "? My twist lock adapter fits just as snuggly in draw tube as it does in the adapter, I assumed the need for 2 separate adapters was to maintain the same overall length to achieve focus.

Correct, both are the same width, the adapter is merely for length.

[rory]

Correct, both are the same width, the adapter is merely for length.

not in mine, you MUST have the adapter fitted. i think there was a change over point at some stage in the design. i cant say when as i dont know how old my skyliner is as it was s/h.

some dont need them others do. perhaps someone else mught know when this design change occured ?

my centering adapter will not fit in the draw tube without it. luckily some kind fella on astro buy and sell passed one over to me for a few pounds.

[jabberwocky]

Hmmm so if Petes focuser is of the old type then he won't just be able to use the correct length 2" extension tube as a eyepiece adapter then?

[rory]

most likely the case. his best bet is a wanted ad on astro buy&sell as allready advised.AND it needs to be the correct dovetail diameter. i bought one from a fellow sgl member that although was a skywatcher adapter, wouldn't fit.

i'll p.m him my adapter measurments.

[alan potts]

My Mac/Newt 190mm has a normal 2 inch focuser like my other scopes with a fitting for smaller eyepieces, I have had this for a fair while.

Alan.

[PeteK]

Thank you for all your replies and to Rory for the pm with the dimensions etc.

It's look like I need an adapter like the one in Rory's picture. I've measured the 1.25" adapter's dovetail and it's a shade over 56mm.

Pete

[Spec-Chum]

There certainly is some confusion over this as my telescope (newish 200p – bought about 5 months ago) came with a very thin, ridged adaptor that screws straight into the focuser draw tube and either the 1.25” or 2” adaptor fits straight into it and you use the 2 thumb screws to secure the adaptor. However, I can also confirm a 2” eyepiece also fits perfectly straight into the thin screw in adaptor. Obviously a 1.25” eyepiece would just fall straight through…

Here’s another pic of what I mean posted back in July from here by mdhard01:

( from http://stargazerslou...2-focuser-woes/ )

It seems, in my setup anyway, the 2” adaptor is purely an extension adaptor to obtain focus. The width of the bottom edge of the 2” adaptor is precisely the same as the bottom edge of a 2” eyepiece barrel.

[PeteK]

Spec-chum - Hi. What you describe with your focuser if different on mine. Sorry,I'm not able to upload a photo at the moment but I'll try my best to explain.

On mine if I remove the 1.25" adapter, I'm left with a similar ridged adapter that screws into the draw tube.

However, the internal diameter of the ridged adapter is about 2 1/4" so when a 2" EP is offered up, the gap is too big for the screws to hold it in place.

So this is where the adapter shown in rory's post above comes in. It is 2 1/4" at the bottom and 2" at the top for the EP.

I am new to all this so please forgive if I'm not using the correct terminology for the various parts :-)

[Spec-Chum]

Ah, OK. Weird.

So, to make sure I understand this correctly, the 1.25” adaptor you’ve got won’t fit in my focuser? As in it’s 0.25” too big at the bottom?

[PeteK]

Yes, correct. My 1.25" adaptor wouldn't fit yours as it's 2 1/4" at the bottom and yours must be a shade over 2" from what you've described above.

My focuser unit is black whereas the newer ones look to be white on the internet, like yours.

Pete

[Spec-Chum]

Hi Pete, mine's black too, but I'm at work so recycled a picture from here of someone else's focuser that has the same 2" adapter as mine

[John]

Clearly Skywatcher have changed the design of their focuser / adapter system recently. That's good for those with newish ones but still leaves those with the older designs having to sort out the adapter issues !

[rory]

mines different to yours too spec chum. without the 2" adapter the diameter is 2.25" so without the adapter your stuck. i'll put a pic up in a bit.

[rory]

this is the housing, it measures 2.25" at the opening,and lower down where it screws into the metal tube its actually under 2" so either way a 2" e/p aint going in there.

heres the 1.25 and 2" adapters both have dovetail fittings of 56mm. the 2" height is 30mm .

2" attached to the housing.

ooowww, my stuff looks mega dusty with the flash on

[Spec-Chum]

Very interesting.

Here's mine with a 2" ep inserted without any adapter. I doubt it'd reach focus tho.

[jabberwocky]

I guess we should praise skywatcher for fixing an issue with its focusers, although they should make adapters for the older style more readily available, or retailers should.

[Spec-Chum]

Definitely agree, there's been a few threads about this similar issue over the last few months.

And each time john said I was wrong when I said I can fit a 2" ep straight into my focuser lol sorry john.